Alicia Vikander recently confirmed that the Tomb Raider movie sequel was on ice and was “in someone else’s hands,” and I think that’s probably for the best. I’m a huge Tomb Raider fan, but let’s leave it at that. I’ve been with TheGamer for about a year and a half, during that time Tomb Raider has had not only zero games, but almost zero news about new games, and it’s still one of my most talked about games. I’ve had a Tomb Raider week with exclusive interviews and written about pretty much every game in the Tomb Raider stable. I even have the board game Tomb Raider. This isn’t just lamenting for the sake of it, or knocking down a series that’s going through a rough patch. I like Tomb Raider. I don’t think it takes another movie.
I explain my Tomb Raider credentials because I know, for better or for worse, that Tomb Raider fans are extremely passionate. I am one of you. I still don’t want another movie. While I thought Vikander embodied the character well, the rest of the movie wasn’t there. Jolie was more of the Lara the general public knew from Lucozade ads and magazine covers, while Vikander was the Lara we knew from the games. But I’m not sure what the point of the rest was.
It took too long for her adventure to begin, giving us a misguided look at Lara Croft’s home instead. It then followed to some extent the opening post of the 2013 Survivor Trilogy, taking some key set pieces (the famous plane from the trailer), but also changing large parts of it, such as the story and characters. So you know, basically everything. No Sam, no monks, but here’s Lara’s father! Again!
Where the hell are they going from here? The next natural point after Tomb Raider (2013) would be Rise of the Tomb Raider, which in theory would be excellent. Rise is my third favorite game in the canon (after Legend and TR2) and best suited for the big screen. But I don’t trust the Vikander’s Tomb Raider team. It wasn’t a particularly good movie, and it wasn’t quite Tomb Raider either. It certainly had Lara Croft, but I’m not sure if it had anything else.
The wait between Shadow of the Tomb Raider and the next game will be the longest in the history of the series, and Shadow was one of the weaker games to begin with. I crave more Tomb Raider. Hopefully Hayley Atwell’s animated series can help sort things out, but in the meantime, a new Vikander movie would only make things worse.
Vikander is a great actor, damn it, she’s a great Lara. She is literally the only good thing in The Danish Girl and is super in Ex Machina. She deserves a better Tomb Raider movie, but I’m not sure she’s getting one. The first was fairly successful at the box office and the sequel would therefore probably be made in a similar vein rather than trying something new. I would love to see another Tomb Raider movie. I wouldn’t want another Tomb Raider movie like that.
Tomb Raider is currently in a very dry period. Removing a movie from the equation only makes it worse, but it also softens the blow. After waiting five years for a new game, seeing Tomb Raider sold by Square Enix, and generally seeing Lara’s pop culture cache shrink, I’m not sure I can take another bad movie that just wants the name Tomb. Raider sells tickets.
0 Comments